I thought Barack was terrific -- strong, clear, knowledgeable. I thought McCain, to be fair, showed some of his knowledge in a good way. But he's too old, he's from the 20th century, the country doesn't need him now.
Plus I thought in some ways McCain lost the debate on his face, the way his face turned red and an uncomfortable smile came on him that seemed to cover a lot of anger. This happened many times in the debate; the first one may have been when Barack said strongly but without nastiness that McCain couldn't pretend to be disconnected from the catastrophic economy or the enormous deficits when he had voted 90% of the time with Bush and had voted for every Bush budget. Forced to be quiet while Barack went through his pro-Bush voting record, McCain looked like an angry poached egg, who wanted to scream at him.
I was relieved by Barack's energy and strength and, yes, passion to win tonight. The last few times I've seen him be interviewed ad hoc he answers with many hestitations and "uh's"... he's choosing his words carefully, and that's good for governing. But for reaching voters and for winning a campaign, he needed to show more passion and energy -- and he did that tonight.
I loved his ability, most of the time, to correct McCain's misleading use of "facts" that aren't facts -- best example, McCain said he couldn't believe that Barack Obama actually voted NOT to give the troops the money they needed.
And Barack came back with that McCain did the same thing: McCain voted against a bill to fund the troops because there was a timeline for withdrawal; and Barack voted against a bill to fund the troops because there was NO timeline for withdrawal, which meant giving Bush a blank check. So they were voting for and against timetables. And of course the eventual bill DID fund the troops. So it's a slander to say that EITHER ONE of them voted against funding the troops. And it was McCain who made the slander.
Another one he made that Obama didn't have the time to correct was when McCain said that Obama voted to raise taxes on people who make $42,000... something his ads say repeatedly in the battle states. (I live in one of them, Pennsylvania.) I did a whole piece on that McCain lie... here's a link.
Another interesting part I thought was when McCain talked for what seemed like 3 hours on his wanting to stand against earmarks (pork barrel spending). Yes, fine and dandy. And this was in answer to how to save money in the government. McCain said earmarks came to 18 billion. Obama agreed that earmarks are not good (though sometimes they can be), but pointed out that the earmarks come to 18 billion, while the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy that McCain wants to keep come to 300 billion. McCain's face turned very red and angry during that.
I thought Obama was very good. McCain drove me crazy. Of course, I'm a liberal. But really McCain seems stuck in his behavior, and erratic. And plus I've seen the Katie Couric interviews with Sarah Palin, and his choosing her as his vice president on what must have been an adrenaline rush hunch -- with the strong possibility given his age and medical history that she could find herself suddenly in the Oval Office -- well, his choosing her ends up being a kind of F--k you to America. Country first, that's a big laugh given that choice, Senator McCain.
I hope people want to vote for Barack Obama who is the future. And he is also right on another point -- when we reclaim our honor in the world stage, that will help us with needed cooperation among allies to make us safer. And he's definitely the man to do that.
And I hope people won't vote for the angry poached egg.
Obama did, indeed, correct McCain on taxes for the middle class. Obama assured everyone that if you make less than $250k per year, you will get a tax cut.
I was upset when Obama failed to point out that the crisis in Georgia was triggered when Georgia invaded South Ossetia. Obama missed his chance to school the mainstream media -- and John McCain -- and American voters --that the war didn't start with the Russian invasion of Georgia.
Can anyone offer an explanation?
The Surge is just more fantasy from Bush like when Cheney said "Al Queda is on the run" about 3 years ago.
I wish Obama could reveal it to be nothing but a propaganda tool that it is.
Iraq remains the most dangerous country in the world. Electricity and water sources are lower than under Sadam Hussein.
Maybe Obama he should start cataloguing all the facts on the ground there since the media isn't doing it. But then he might be portrayed as "wanting to lose" by the rightwingers.
Of course no miraculous victory is on the horizon - but how do you say all this? I wish he could figure it out. Maybe he's just saying now what he thinks will be acceptable - the skillful politician he is - and then when he's President abandon all the nonsense and get ALL the troops out. If he stays in Afghanistan it will be a quagmire and drag his presidency down.
In other words there are certain positions and words he is employing for purposes of the election, but will abandon them if elected. That's what I think. I hope the Democrats aren't stupid enough to keep troops in the Middle East.
. . . bribing the various (and ever-changing) sects, government officials and coalition members to provide the illusion (to the less than stellar thinkers here at home) that not only are we "bringing democracy to a sand dune near you", but that oil was never the primary motivation for attacking a country that had no strategic bearing on anything (except for the fact that they are the second largest producer of oil in the world and are surrounded by 5 additional countries that, in symphony, combine to provide 50% of the world's total consumption).
This is just not that hard to grasp, especially if you carry the knowledge that 95% of Bush's cabinet choices (on day one) were not simply involved in determining the direction of the globe's corporate energy policies, they literally wrote the book.
I'd even take that one step further and see if the money could not be tracked in some fashion outside of our banking system, or through the stock markets.
We really do need to understand exactly where our money is going.
The additional factor in Iraq is that the UN had just given them permission in 2000 to start trading oil in Euros:
http://archives.cnn.com/2000/WORLD/meast/10/30/iraq.un.euro.reut/
And guess what? Iran is too; trading in euros, rials and yen apart from dollars.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iranian_oil_bourse
When Iran starts trading in crude oil directly - bye bye dollar.
Obama and HufPo should be asking, where could I have done better? We can't afford to have him lose, and we should be thinking, how do we avoid the worst case?
Obama had all the facts, but he could have made a stronger case. A lot of his material was stale, and carried over from the primaries. He could have said , "the Democratic team is the team America needs", instead of "When I am President" . Cut out the "I" stuff. That was right for the Dem primary, but now he should be playing his best card, and his best card is the Dem card. He should certainly talk about 8 bad Bush years, after 8 Demo years of peace and prosperity.
He could have said, "My opponent is part of the Bush team, and he will still be part of the Bush team, even after Bush is gone." That nails McCain, without offending Reps. Obama should make "Bush team" his second most used phrase.
Obama and his advisors have been busy, but his approach to this debate shows that they still don't understand the difference between the primary and the electoral college. Winning Iowa is not going to change the electoral map, and he needs to get real. Real Demos are proud of their party, and there is no I in Democrat.
I wonder that no one has written very much about the fact that the Vietcong broke McCain and forced him to denounce his country. (Kindness and deference, I suppose, in a race where McCain's side has consistently been mean and rude.) The pressures of the presidential campaign have broken McCain anew and forced him to renounce his core decency. The same pressures, by contrast, have only revealed more and more of Obama's estimable qualities. Obama was able to look at McCain during the debate because his treatment of his opponent has not been base and vile. Those of us who keep advising Obama to go on the angry attack should be grateful he has remained true to his principles, for his steadfast good conduct will very likely take him all the way to the White House.
JM -- manchurian candidate (broken in captivity, don't let us forget it, John).
BO -- next POTUS.
McCain's fear is palpable and well placed. He stood up there knowing his only arguments were not only based on lies and tired soundbites, but he and he alone knows that the image (spin) he has been led to believe about himself, that of "Maverick", jibes entirely with positions of (so called) independence he once took.
McCain's inability to look Obama in the eye speaks volumes within his own embarrassing understanding of just what a fraud he has morphed into in order to sway a base that functions from a position of "what it takes to win a football game" . . . and not to govern as a world leader.
No, I think what we saw in McCain's demeanor was resentment for the position he has allowed himself to be placed in. Surely he considers himself to be above the vile, socio-pathetic loser Bush . . . the man who used the very same dirty tricks on him in 2000, but just as sure, you can bet that McCain knows just what a tool he himself has become in believing he has to appear play by those same rules of engagement.
What we saw last night, is a broken and now very dangerous man.
Did I mention Sarah Palin yet?
Yes, that is the key for Obama. Senator McCain's "20th century policies" being outdated and ineffective is the mantra he needs to state in every debate, speech, question, etc he has from now until the election. He needs to repeatedly state Senator McCain wants to solve America's problems with 20th century policies. We are in a new age and it's time for the country to progressively transform our global policies to benefit the US!!
It's time to hold the talking heads accountable for spinning! John McCain and Sarah Palin are a "Bridge to no where". We need to move forward with leadership we can believe!